The Old Grey Whistle Test- a late night BBC classic.

The Old Grey Whistle Test - a late night BBC classic.

For those of us with a passion for soul music and the legend of Motown this shouldn't have been my cup of tea, coffee, latte or cappuccino. But last night BBC Four excelled itself, pushing the boat right out of the harbour and into the most vintage of amber sunsets. During all of the 1970s and the early part of the 1980s it was cutting edge TV that literally heaved back all of the rock music boundaries and left late night, sleepy BBC 2 viewers hooked and transfixed for ever more.

 It was a night devoted to music, nostalgia, official hippiedom, right on classic vinyl album rockers and those aficionados in the music industry who remember the 1970s as that simply golden, long bearded age of classical rock, outrageous hairstyles, wonderful fashion statements and a whole litany of barking mad eccentricities. But how we loved them and we wouldn't have had it any other way.

Last night BBC Four paid a special tribute to the Old Grey Whistle Test, one of the most enthralling and exhilarating music programmes ever to appear on that gold fish bowl in the corner of your living room. Once again it has to be emphasised that for those of us of an easy listening disposition more Stevie Wonder than Stevie Winwood this was something of a culturally offensive shock to the system. But it still remains one of the most iconic of all TV programmes, whose value can never be questioned.

I have to confess here and now that although aware of the Old Grey Whistle Test the programme didn't really preoccupy my burgeoning teenage mind. Not for me those loud, deafening, riotously raucous rock bands who seemed to turn the volume up to such an intense pitch that it was a wonder that my hearing wasn't permanently and severely affected in later life.

But the advancing years have now mellowed me immensely and having watched last night's wonderful confection of legendary singers, bands, accomplished songwriters, lyricists and music makers the Old Grey Whistle Test briefly, for one night only reminded you that it wasn't so bad at all, that those screeching guitarists with enormous speakers had an underlying message.

Introduced by that wonderfully soothing voiced, smooth as silk music lover 'Whistling Bob Harris', now at that velvety veteran stage of his career, the Old Grey Whistle Test took us on a gentle river boat ride through the 1970s, with frequent emphasis on those who made their first appearance on the programme only to find that it had become a glorious launching pad for a glitteringly illustrious career, a time of big concert venues and stadiums that would become their second home.

First on last night was the very feminine and angelically ethereal Kiki Dee, whose famous collaboration with Elton John in the 1970s hit single 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' somehow endeared her to us more than ever before. For those of us who remember 'I've Got The Music in Me' Kiki Dee's voice had an instantly recognisable uplifting lilt that somehow that epitomised the earthy, gutsy sound of the early 1970s. Dee told us all about her Northern Soul roots and then played her latest number. She then took us back to 1973 with the exquisite 'Amoureuse', a beautifully poetic piece of story telling, richly descriptive and affectionately delivered.

Then Bob Harris reeled off a whole artistic gallery of the great and good, the sublime and the ridiculous, the creators of stunning prose, verse, stanza and vocal cadences that must have been deeply moving to those of a sensitive ear. They came and went from the one off 1970s sofa studio like honoured visitors to a very special party. They spoke fondly of those moments from way back when, the endless days spent in smoky 1960s West End clubs, the pubs where the foundations of their career were first laid, those first precious record labels and studios where the first sounds were conceived and executed, tuned and tweaked.

There was Peter Frampton, whose 1970s middle of the road rock classic 'I Want You To Show Me the Way' elevated the genre to new and unexplored heights. Frampton, last night, treated us to a pretty ditty called 'I Saved a Bird' which must have come as welcome news to all ornithologists. 'Baby I Love Your Way' was a sentimental throwback to his first love and courtship days.

Then Harris, our master of ceremonies, dug into the historic vaults of the 'Old Grey Whistle Test'. There were the glowingly warm reminiscences of the greats, the stars with genuine quality and those who may have been just passing by an old BBC TV studio lift shaft and found that here was a perfect canvas for their artwork.

There was the unforgettably brilliant and enduringly cool David Bowie, Elton John in his prodigiously creative songwriting pomp, all splendid shoulder pads and hilarious glasses. There was Meat Loaf, an all conquering, energetic American rock band who were somehow ideally suited for the Old Grey Whistle Test and led by a highly amusing lead singer who never seemed to take life seriously at any point of his life. Then there seemed the highly improbable appearance of Billy Joel whose brief snatch of 'She's Only a Woman' back in the 1980s broke new ground for the Whistle Test.

Then Bob Harris set us an online competition to the viewers. The winner was the superbly inimitable Bob Marley and the Wailers with their first appearance on the show and 'Stir it Up', a forerunner for the more celebrated and mainstream hits such 'No Woman No Cry' and the constantly infectious reggae rhythms of 'We're Jammin'. Tragically Marley's life would be cut short and we would never  again be the privileged listeners to his unique voice.

There was another whistle stop through the multi layered careers of the songbirds, the rousing rebels, the microphone grabbers and the blatant exhibitionists. There was Alice Cooper, that war painted, wild haired demonstration of rock rebellion, an incredibly gifted performance artist and a right show off. Some of us knew where Cooper was coming from but didn't quite know where he'd end up. He was one of those stomping, strutting stage rockers who simply didn't care about the consequences of his actions.

On a more sedate level. Bob Harris introduced us to the one and only Joan Armatrading, a British chanteuse still going strong and still making an impact to this day. Back in the 1970s a little known black singer from Birmingham stirred the nation with a series of hits that had studied sophistication written straight through them.

Armatrading's deep but smouldering soul voice had a style and resonance that would keep the British pop charts in a buoyant state of health. Her voice still has that smooth eloquence that would light up any late night jazz club. 'Love and Affection', a massive hit everywhere, remains a timeless masterpiece. Armatrading still has a laid back class about her that has taken her right up to the present day.

When Radio 1 legend Annie Nightingale told us very powerfully about the unspeakably untimely death of the great John Lennon and her rib ticklingly, funny appearances on the Old Grey Whistle Test we somehow knew that here was a programme that was almost too understated and modest for its own good.

Broadcaster Danny Baker went into rich chapter and verse about his first encounters with this trailblazing TV music programme and a format that was never less than simple and very distinctive. Baker pointed out quite accurately that the Old Grey Whistle Test was one of those programmes that was so tucked away in the late night TV schedules that very few people were aware of its existence. Baker said that it was one of those obscure nuggets of gold that suddenly ingratiated itself into the public's mind and never went away. It was rather like a charming clock on your mantelpiece that always told the right time.

One of the programme's few regrets was that the Beatles or the Rolling Stones could ever be enticed onto the show for reasons that might have become apparent given the worldwide fame and celebrity that both bands had experienced years before the Old Grey Whistle Test. There was an interview with Ian Anderson who fronted Jethro Tull, a band who seemed to be  radical pioneers to their fingertips at the time, Gary Numan, another electro pop extrovert and Toyah Wilcox whose extravagant, spiky hair and clothes had a 1980s electricity that couldn't be resisted.

So there you are ladies and gentlemen. A BBC Four one off tribute to the unforgettable Old Grey Whistle Test. To rock connoisseurs it was rather like a late night cup of coffee or a glass of brandy before lights out. Around Britain and the world there are still avid album collectors for whom the act of flicking through racks of carefully arranged LPs remains the guilty pleasure it's always been. Whistling Bob Harris was somehow appropriately made for the Old Grey Whistle Test. Arise Sir Bob. It sounds so right.